The stories behind the cards

You may have landed on this page because you have either a business card or a postcard from the motivational speaker Steve Houghton-Burnett also known as The Formula Guy. Steve considers two things when he picks the pictures he uses on his business cards and handout postcards. Firstly, the picture has to be appealing but secondly (and just as important) there must be an inspiring story behind the picture. Wherever possible he tries to track down the person/people either in the picture or taking the picture so he can get the full story directly from them.

Steve uses motivational and thought provoking stories whenever he is in front of an audience because there is no better way to create the connection between the person on stage and the people in the audience. He builds a bridge to the audience, then he invites them over it to see the world from his perspective. We hope you enjoy the images and the story that accompanies each of them. Simply click on the formula tabs at the top of this page.

This photo was taken when an old couple were between takes for a TV commercial, so at this point they aren’t acting they’re just having fun!

They were a real married couple who were spotted in the street and asked to audition for the commercial because their love for each other was so obvious. So for Steve they are the perfect example of “Infinite Love” which is why he chose them to represent the ∞L formula.

This picture was taken in Syracuse, Sicily. The kitten had managed to get through a hole in the fence and decided to explore the garden next door. Upon seeing the dog it decided to see what the big furry thing was and marched right up to it without a care or fear in the world. The dog, possibly recognising the immaturity of the kitten or just because it was a very hot day, decided the best course of action was to simply let the kitten have a sniff around.

The decisions made by both of them on the day paid off as they are now ‘friends’ and quite happily play together whenever the kitten (now a fully grown cat) comes to visit. It’s a perfect example of how both them (G)rew their life experience by taking a small (ri)sk that (d)ay.

The beach at Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico seems to go on forever! Every morning this elderly gentleman goes on his daily ‘jog’. Even though he’s well into his eighties, he exhibits the attitude and fitness level of a man decades younger. There are some close ups of his face which really show his determination. On a couple of the mornings he was out it looked like he had to will one foot to step ahead of the other. Posting the close ups seemed like an intrusion into his personal journey so we haven’t.

When Steve saw this photo and heard the story of the ‘man on the beach’ he knew he had to pass it on for the rest of the world to benefit from. Winston Churchill said, “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in…”

Over the years this has been reduced to a simple “Never give up”. When Steve uses the formula ∞T is stands for… Always (∞) (T)ry or in other words “Never give up!”

This is a departure board at John F. Kennedy International Airport which is the busiest international air passenger gateway in the United States (and indeed one of the 20 busiest airports in the world), handling more international traffic than any other airport in North America including cargo traffic. It has more than 151 aircraft gates serving the airports 7 active terminals. In 2012 almost 50 million passengers used the facility. All this is handled by 1,150 plane movements per day in 2012.

But do you want to know something?

Despite all the activity, if you were to go to any of the gates or try and board any of the planes passing through, and said ‘get me away from here’, you wouldn’t be going anywhere. Not until you knew where you wanted to go and could tell the ground staff so they could direct you to the right place.

Steve uses the facts and figures about JFK International Airport when he talks to people about the need to have a plan and that plan needing to have an end goal/destination. For him it really proves the formula that (a)way from somewhere is not (≠) a (D)estination.

Katie Weilbacher is a mystery as well as a photographer to Steve. She was really active on the photographic scene in Florida and on Flickr right up until around August 2011 when all of a sudden she stopped posting images. The only other thing he can find is a gift list for her wedding to Jeremy Allen (her boyfriend and one of her frequent models) in February 2012.

This is one of Steve’s favourite images and it always makes him smile from ear-to-ear.

Katie’s own story about how she got the shot is charming, “When I asked this cutie how rolling in the mud felt, she replied, ‘oh REALLY squishy and good!’ She played in this mud for about 5 hours… no toys, no other kids around her, just MUD. She was totally engrossed and loved every second of it. I have to admit, if I hadn’t been shooting, I would have been right in there too!”

Steve often includes this formula when he is speaking to audiences from all walks of life. His logic is simple, who couldn’t do with a little more fun in their life? The more fun you have, especially when you’re working on chores the quicker they will pass and Steve’s formula proves it. Just substitute a rating from 1 to 10 instead of ‘FUN’ where 1 is BORING and 10 is FANTASTIC FUN. Pick two things you’ve done recent and mark them this way. Now look at the two scores, the one with the smallest fraction was the more fun of the two!